Spotify steps in to bolster Meghan and Harry’s multimillion-dollar podcast

Spotify has been forced to step in to bolster Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s $30 million podcast, which didn’t publish a single episode in 2021.

Spotify is taking Harry and Meghan’s $30 million podcast project “into its own hands” by hiring a host of in-house producers to finally help deliver content.

The streaming giant has been waiting more than a year for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to produce material as part of their mega-money deal, The Sun reports.

In a press release announcing the partnership in December 2020, Spotify said it was looking forward to a “full-scale” launch of shows in 2021.

Instead, not a single episode was published.

Now bosses at the streaming platform are stepping in to help Harry and Meghan deliver the goods.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry appeared in a Spotify ad early last year promoting their podcast Archewell Audio, but not a single episode has been published. Picture: Spotify

They are recruiting new in-house staff to work with Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Audio for a show that features “the voices of high profile women”.

The jobs are being offered to applicants on six-month contracts based in Los Angeles.

One advert for a senior producer role at Gimlet Projects, Spotify’s own production arm, reads: “We’re currently assembling a show team that will build and launch a new original show with Archewell featuring the voices of high-profile women.

“The ideal candidate has experience working with high-profile talent, and an interest in the intersection of social activism and popular culture.”

Spotify says it’s hiring for a ‘new original show with Archewell featuring the voices of high-profile women’.

Harry and Meghan’s only podcast effort so far has been a 35-minute ‘holiday special’ in December 2020, featuring celebrity pals such as Elton John and James Corden.

Fans have been questioning when their so-called “full-scale launch” of episodes would be coming.

A source close to the project said: “Spotify has been waiting a long time for some content from Harry and Meghan and now it appears they have finally taken matters into their own hands.

“Hiring a raft of in-house talent on Spotify’s side will ensure they finally squeeze something out of them as they bid to honour their contract.”

Harry and Meghan’s lack of content came despite the duo hiring high-flying podcast producer Rebecca Sananes as their ‘head of audio’ at Archewell last year.

With only one show under their belts, the streaming platform has so far paid the couple $940,000 for each minute.

Harry and Meghan have been paid a hefty sum from Spotify, with little content to show for it. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum

Meanwhile, Harry has appeared on numerous other podcasts including Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert in May, where he said his life was like film, The Truman Show.

They both also found time to sit down for their sensational Oprah interview in March last year – while the Duchess later played pranks on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

Spotify and Archewell were approached for comment.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission